The 2013 US government shutdown (#Shutdown) and health: An emerging role for social media

R.M. Merchant, Y.P. Ha, C.A. Wong, H.A. Schwartz, M. Sap, L.H. Ungar and D.A. Asch

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 12, 2248-2250

Abstract: In October 2013, multiple United States (US) federal health departments and agencies posted on Twitter, "We're sorry, but we will not be tweeting or responding to @replies during the shutdown. We'll be back as soon as possible!" These "last tweets" and the millions of responses they generated revealed social media's role as a forum for sharing and discussing information rapidly. Social media are now among the few dominant communication channels used today. We used social media to characterize the public discourse and sentiment about the shutdown. The 2013 shutdown represented an opportunity to explore the role social media might play in events that could affect health. © 2013 American Public Health Association.

Keywords: government; human; information dissemination; Internet; public health service; social media; United States, Federal Government; Humans; Information Dissemination; Internet; Public Health Administration; Social Media; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302118_1

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302118

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